Just three weeks into the 2025/26 EFL Championship season, and the initial predictions for who would come out on top in the race for Premier League promotion can be thrown out the window. It was goals galore this weekend in a round of fixtures that all kicked off before Saturday evening, so it’s an early edition of this week’s EFL Championship recap.
Coventry thrash QPR with a super seven goals
Three players scored braces as Coventry City dominated QPR at home on Saturday, scoring a remarkable seven goals from just eight shots on target and recording their biggest ever win in the Championship.
Frank Lampard’s side entered the match in good form, winners of their last two, including an exciting 5-3 victory away at Derby County last weekend, and unbeaten in competitive play this season.
Bookmakers favored the home side, with QPR struggling so far this season and missing one of their chief creators, Moroccan midfielder Ilias Chair.
But Coventry wrapped up the game well before halftime, scoring five in just 43 minutes. The visitors succumbed to high pressure and consistently gave the ball away in dangerous positions. Once they had it, the forward combination of striker Haji Wright, attacking midfielder Jack Rudoni, and winger Brandon Thomas-Asante was ruthless.
Both Wright and Rudoni scored first-half braces, while Thomas-Asanti scored the second and notched two assists.
Coventry got their sixth just two minutes into the second, central midfielder Viktor Torp finishing from a Mason Lewis-Clark cutback. Torp also finished with a brace, curling in a beautiful right-footed effort from distance in the 65th minute.
QPR managed to get one back in the 92nd minute, striker Richard Kone scoring a header from a free kick routine, but it wasn’t much of a consolation for the visiting side.
Coventry City now sit third in the league table, and are the division’s top scorers with 12 goals in just three matches as they look to return to the Premier League after a 25-year absence. QPR, on the other hand, sit third from bottom, with just one point and no wins from their first three league games.
Stoke City survives red card to beat Southampton and go top
Stoke City entered the weekend full of confidence, winners of their first two EFL Championship matches. However, they faced arguably their toughest test yet in matchweek 3 on the road at Saint Mary’s against unbeaten Southampton. Will Still’s side won their first match against Wrexham before drawing with Ipswich Town.
Stoke succeeded in getting crosses in from wide areas early on, while Southampton aimed to hit them on the counter. The home side came closest in the first half, striking the post after a well-worked move in the 43rd minute.
Stoke City took the lead in the 54th minute despite starting the half on the defensive. Lewis Baker won the ball in the Southampton half, and they worked the ball to Sorba Thomas on the wing, whose cross found Million Manhoef. Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu parried Manhoef’s shot away, but straight to Baker, who’d made a lungbusting run into the box and fired in the opener to finish what he started.
Southampton caught a lucky break a few minutes later. Stoke City fashioned a nice move on the counter, eventually putting in striker Divin Mubama. The 20-year-old Englishman took the ball around the keeper, but instead of finishing his move, he hit the ground. There appeared to be little or no contact, and the referee sent him off with a second yellow for simulation.
Stoke were majorly on the defensive after going down to ten, and Southampton should’ve capitalized on their dominance, missing several golden opportunities. But instead, Stoke City delivered a counter-punch. While Southampton had most of their players up in the Stoke half, goalkeeper Viktor Johansson released Thomas on the counter with a brilliant throw, earning an assist as the winger beat Dale Stephens and finished across the goal for his third of the season.
Southampton got one back a few minutes later, center back Taylor Harwood-Bellis thundering in a header from a corner. But that was the last real chance of the game for Southampton, and Stoke escaped with a win.
The home side should be massively disappointed with their inability to convert against ten men, and manager Will Still lamented his side’s inefficiency in both boxes after the game.
For Stoke, it’s a brilliant start to the campaign, sitting top of the league. It’s early days, of course, but Mark Robins’s side have shown that they’re well capable of competing with the promotion favorites after this win.
Kieffer Moore’s double not enough for Wrexham
It was a tale of two owners when Sheffield Wednesday visited Wrexham on Saturday. The visitors are in the midst of an ownership crisis, having been under a transfer embargo all summer, with outstanding debts and missed payments to staff and players. While celebrity-owned Wrexham recently overtook Chelsea for net spend this summer, spending more on new players than any other EFL Championship club.
That hasn’t translated to wins on the pitch, though, as Phil Parkinson’s side fell to Southampton and then West Bromwich Albion in their first two EFL Championship games. The away side possessed the same record, though their struggles were less surprising given the circumstances.
Wrexham took the lead from a set piece in the 15th minute. The free kick played into the box found Welsh striker Kieffer Moore, whose first header was blocked, but bounced back at his feet, where the big man lashed in his first goal since joining the club this summer.
Moore got his second 15 minutes later, when Wednesday goalkeeper Ethan Horvath parried away George Dobson’s strike from distance, Moore was the first to react, pouncing on the deflection to make it 2-0.
Wrexham continued to dominate for the remainder of the first half, finishing with 4 shots on target and the two goals, as the visitors struggled to find their rhythm in attack.
But Sheffield Wednesday started to find their feet in the second half, creating two good chances for Canadian striker Ike Ugbo.
Good midfield pressure paid off in the 63rd minute, when they won the ball in midfield and Charlie McNeill delivered a cross into the box, which bounced off Conor Coady and to the feet of captain Barry Bannan, who cut the home side’s lead to one.
Wednesday continued to press on for the equalizer, and another McNeill cross in the 80th minute found Bailey Cadamarteri, who fired home the second in a similar fashion.
They nearly clinched all three points in a last-minute breakaway, but McNeil’s close-range effort couldn’t beat goalkeeper Danny Ward.
While both sides picked up their first points of the season, it will feel like a loss for Wrexham, who haven’t quite gelled as a side in their first three matches. There were certainly positives to take for the home side, though, with Kieffer Moore getting off the mark and showing how useful an asset he’ll be at this level.
EFL Championship MD3 results
- (20) Derby County 1-1 Bristol City (9)
- (14) Charlton Athletic 0-1 Leicester City (7)
- (15) Hull City 0-3 Blackburn Rovers (16)
- (13) Swansea City 1-1 Watford (12)
- (5) Birmingham City 1-0 Oxford United (23)
- (3) Coventry City 7-1 Queens Park Rangers (22)
- (17) Norwich City 1-2 Middlesbrough (2)
- (6) Preston North End 1-0 Ipswich Town (18)
- (24) Sheffield United 0-1 Millwall (8)
- (10) Southampton 2-1 Stoke City (1)
- (4) West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Portsmouth (11)
- (19) Wrexham 2-2 Sheffield Wednesday (21)
